Rental vs buying for the short term (and then buying again...)

Larches

Hi all, views welcome on this conundrum please.

We've been planning a move for some time with a particular secondary school in mind, and we've now had the school place confirmed. We sold our house last year and have relocated to the new area, but the closest place we could find to rent while looking to buy is still a bit too far to be practical for the daily school journey. So the clock is ticking for us to move again and hopefully buy somewhere nearer school.

The problem is that there just hasn't been much coming onto the market. It has maybe picked up a tiny bit as we're moving into spring, but it now feels like we're getting too close to crunch time where a purchase might not complete in time for us to have moved and settled in by September. We do have in our favour that there's no chain on our side, maybe also a chance we could be cash buyers if the price is right but it depends what we find. We're now facing the tricky choice of either trying to find somewhere closer to rent or buying a house we're not all that keen on. We could do with a fallback option to cover us for any delays in buying, but there seems to be no middle ground between the likes of Airbnbs with nightly holiday rates (too expensive) and normal residential lettings (too long term).

The rental option is easier said than done as there is amazingly little available of the location and size we need... for months now there have been only 3 houses to rent in that area. We really don't want to move until July/August so we would be paying double rent and bills for several months if we took out a rental now, but it would be too much of a gamble to wait as there may be nowhere available and it would be too late to buy. Not to mention spending what could easily be £10-15k on rent instead of putting it into a house purchase. On the flip side, we've got a good lump of cash from our house sale sat in the bank earning interest (so offsetting our current rent) and maybe renting would buy us time for house prices and/or interest rates to drop (if they will??). Still not much use if there's literally nowhere to rent though.

So now we're wondering if we should just look to buy somewhere to make do in the short term - basically just until we can find somewhere we really like to buy. Obviously that means taking a hit on stamp duty, survey, conveyancing etc twice over, but that's probably only the same as we would pay for another year's rent. What I'm wondering is - does anyone here have experience of doing this, what are the pitfalls and was it worth it? If we have a mortgage, is it likely to be much hassle if we decided to move again say a year down the line, and is there anything else to take into consideration with a short-term purchase? Or are we missing a better option? It would be great to hear people's views on this as we are just feeling a bit stuck on which way to go but time is running short.

badger09

Is the daily school run to the new school totally impossible, or just a bit challenging? As you’re obviously in the catchment area, is there any transport provided? Or have you tried to find out if there are other parents locally with whom you could share?

I wouldn’t buy somewhere as a very short term stopgap. If a better property does appear, you might miss out because you can’t sell in time. 

If commuting is impossible, I’d try to find an acceptable rental. At least then, you can keep searching and have some control over timescales. A few months of double rent could give you that flexibility. 

ArbitraryRandom

Without a chain, I'd expect 3 months to be a not unreasonable timeline for completion, so you've got a while yet before you have to worry about the start of the school term.  

And have you completely ruled out the third option of staying where you are and buying the right house whenever it comes on the market?

You've said where you are now is 'a little too far to be practical for the daily school journey' to the new school. Might be worth contacting the school and asking if they could put you in contact with any parents in your area that might be willing to take turns pooling, or depending on the age of the child if there's a direct bus? 

Timing a move is always going to be a problem. Moving with a child during the school year is less than ideal, but there's a lot you can do to keep things 'normal' at home and at least moving early in the year you're not disrupting exams. 

Larches

The main issue with commuting from our current house is that we're about 30 miles away from the school - we met separate critera so were able to get the school place without being in catchment, but that does mean there's no-one else round here attending that school, as there are two other secondaries serving this area. So that would be far from ideal from a social perspective when all the kids are getting to know each other (start of Y7). And yes the journey 5 days a week would be pretty hard-going too as it would take a lot of time out of the day with quite a long drive even before negotiating city traffic, and that would have its own knock-on effect on my working hours. So in summary - not, it's not an impossibility but I think it would be an absolute last resort.

So taking on board your points, maybe we can afford to hold our nerve just a little longer to see if something appealing comes up to buy, but we also shouldn't rule out starting a rental sooner rather than later while there's somewhere available, and just taking the hit on the double rent etc - should be manageable for a few months bearing in mind the savings interest element too.

Thanks both for your thoughtful suggestions, really appreciate it.

badger09

Re the commute: in a previous life I did a 45 mile drive each way Harpenden to Cambridge, 4 or 5 days a week for a year. I did have some flexibility over start/finish time but even so, the winter journeys were gruelling. 30 miles doesn’t sound impossible if it’s only short term. 

Is there any chance of splitting the journey, so you drive part way & offspring travels last part on public transport? Or even on school bus? Just a thought. 

Good luck whatever you decide & please update. 

gwynlas

I would continue to look to buy knowing that commute to school only for a whileunless you were to find a place to rent with convenient transport link that child could use. Buying for the short term would mean two lots of fees and perhaps hinder convenience. If school catchment area is important there might be movement towards the end of term when children leaving school. You could get in early by leafletting streets that offer what you want